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Ohio Football Topic
Topic: Salopek and the Ohio MACC Gameplan
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Mike Coleman
12/13/2024 11:34 AM
While at the game, it was easy to see Matt Salopek was having a rough day. Running one way and having the play go the other, come flying in to make a tackle only to face a trap block, etc. Complaining to the refs nonstop. Until—finally—capitulation on Tyus’ run when he threw up his hands in defeat.

I thought then: what a brilliant gameplan. Not only did Brian Smith take Salopek completely out of the game, but he also took All-American Raidon Strader out of the game by targeting Hendricks, Tyus, and Williams in the passing game, while Strader covered Owen.

But when I watched the ESPN broadcast the other day, it became apparent it was even more brilliant on Smith’s part, almost devious.

They spotlighted Salopek in the second half and noted he wrote a master’s degree dissertation on predicting play trees based on formations and personnel. And he used film of the Ohio Bobcats for the project! My guess is we knew that, and ran different play packages based off of personnel than we had all season. And it absolutely confused them.

Salopek finished with one solo tackle when the first time we played he had 7 solos and an INT.

I think it will go down as the best called game in Ohio history, not just the best played.
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L.C.
12/13/2024 11:38 AM
Mike Coleman wrote:expand_more
...
I think it will go down as the best called game in Ohio history, not just the best played.

While I can't comment on specifically what/how they did it, it absolutely was one of the best games I have ever seen, both in terms of strategies/schemes, and in terms of play calling, both offensive and defensive. Everything worked on both sides of the ball.
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Mike Coleman
12/13/2024 11:43 AM
L.C. wrote:expand_more
...
I think it will go down as the best called game in Ohio history, not just the best played.

While I can't comment on specifically what/how they did it, it absolutely was one of the best games I have ever seen, both in terms of strategies/schemes, and in terms of play calling, both offensive and defensive. Everything worked on both sides of the ball.
Yes, on the defensive side too. Constant A Gap pressure. Gabbard is a great Qb, but one thing he is isn't is tall, and seemed to struggle greatly with pressure directly in front of him.
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OhioCatFan
12/13/2024 11:49 AM
Mike Coleman wrote:expand_more
While at the game, it was easy to see Matt Salopek was having a rough day. Running one way and having the play go the other, come flying in to make a tackle only to face a trap block, etc. Complaining to the refs nonstop. Until—finally—capitulation on Tyus’ run when he threw up his hands in defeat.

I thought then: what a brilliant gameplan. Not only did Brian Smith take Salopek completely out of the game, but he also took All-American Raidon Strader out of the game by targeting Hendricks, Tyus, and Williams in the passing game, while Strader covered Owen.

But when I watched the ESPN broadcast the other day, it became apparent it was even more brilliant on Smith’s part, almost devious.

They spotlighted Salopek in the second half and noted he wrote a master’s degree dissertation on predicting play trees based on formations and personnel. And he used film of the Ohio Bobcats for the project! My guess is we knew that, and ran different play packages based off of personnel than we had all season. And it absolutely confused them.

Salopek finished with one solo tackle when the first time we played he had 7 solos and an INT.

I think it will go down as the best called game in Ohio history, not just the best played.
I appreciate this excellent analysis. I will have to watch a replay of the game and look for these things. Sitting in the first row at Ford Field, it was really hard see anything this granular. I would rather have been higher in the stands where I could have had a better view of the entire field. I did notice, of course, that the ball was being thrown more to other receivers than Owen, though Owen still had more total yards, on fewer catches than Hendricks.
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CatsUp
12/13/2024 12:42 PM
OhioCatFan wrote:expand_more
While at the game, it was easy to see Matt Salopek was having a rough day. Running one way and having the play go the other, come flying in to make a tackle only to face a trap block, etc. Complaining to the refs nonstop. Until—finally—capitulation on Tyus’ run when he threw up his hands in defeat.

I thought then: what a brilliant gameplan. Not only did Brian Smith take Salopek completely out of the game, but he also took All-American Raidon Strader out of the game by targeting Hendricks, Tyus, and Williams in the passing game, while Strader covered Owen.

But when I watched the ESPN broadcast the other day, it became apparent it was even more brilliant on Smith’s part, almost devious.

They spotlighted Salopek in the second half and noted he wrote a master’s degree dissertation on predicting play trees based on formations and personnel. And he used film of the Ohio Bobcats for the project! My guess is we knew that, and ran different play packages based off of personnel than we had all season. And it absolutely confused them.

Salopek finished with one solo tackle when the first time we played he had 7 solos and an INT.

I think it will go down as the best called game in Ohio history, not just the best played.
I appreciate this excellent analysis. I will have to watch a replay of the game and look for these things. Sitting in the first row at Ford Field, it was really hard see anything this granular. I would rather have been higher in the stands where I could have had a better view of the entire field. I did notice, of course, that the ball was being thrown more to other receivers than Owen, though Owen still had more total yards, on fewer catches than Hendricks.
In all my years of going to football games I have never seen a player talking (complaining) to an official as much as Salopek. This wasn’t a play or two. This behavior was over the top and almost continuous. At first I was mad because I was afraid he was going to influence them. Then as the game wore on, and as it became apparent we were going to continue to work Miami over, it started to become amusing.
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Mike Coleman
12/13/2024 4:06 PM
CatsUp wrote:expand_more
While at the game, it was easy to see Matt Salopek was having a rough day. Running one way and having the play go the other, come flying in to make a tackle only to face a trap block, etc. Complaining to the refs nonstop. Until—finally—capitulation on Tyus’ run when he threw up his hands in defeat.

I thought then: what a brilliant gameplan. Not only did Brian Smith take Salopek completely out of the game, but he also took All-American Raidon Strader out of the game by targeting Hendricks, Tyus, and Williams in the passing game, while Strader covered Owen.

But when I watched the ESPN broadcast the other day, it became apparent it was even more brilliant on Smith’s part, almost devious.

They spotlighted Salopek in the second half and noted he wrote a master’s degree dissertation on predicting play trees based on formations and personnel. And he used film of the Ohio Bobcats for the project! My guess is we knew that, and ran different play packages based off of personnel than we had all season. And it absolutely confused them.

Salopek finished with one solo tackle when the first time we played he had 7 solos and an INT.

I think it will go down as the best called game in Ohio history, not just the best played.
I appreciate this excellent analysis. I will have to watch a replay of the game and look for these things. Sitting in the first row at Ford Field, it was really hard see anything this granular. I would rather have been higher in the stands where I could have had a better view of the entire field. I did notice, of course, that the ball was being thrown more to other receivers than Owen, though Owen still had more total yards, on fewer catches than Hendricks.
In all my years of going to football games I have never seen a player talking (complaining) to an official as much as Salopek. This wasn’t a play or two. This behavior was over the top and almost continuous. At first I was mad because I was afraid he was going to influence them. Then as the game wore on, and as it became apparent we were going to continue to work Miami over, it started to become amusing.


The halftime adjustments were amusing, too. Miami took Strader off Owen, then we immediately hit him three times on the opening drive incl. the TD. It was the quickest drive of the game!

1st & 10 at OHIO 25
(14:53 - 3rd) Parker Navarro pass complete to Rodney Harris II for 11 yds to the OHIO 36 for a 1ST down
1st & 10 at OHIO 36
(14:35 - 3rd) Anthony Tyus III run for 5 yds to the OHIO 41
2nd & 5 at OHIO 41
(13:58 - 3rd) Parker Navarro pass complete to Coleman Owen for 23 yds to the M-OH 36 for a 1ST down
1st & 10 at M-OH 36
(13:38 - 3rd) Parker Navarro pass complete to Coleman Owen for 9 yds to the M-OH 27
2nd & 1 at M-OH 27
(13:20 - 3rd) Anthony Tyus III run for 2 yds to the M-OH 25 for a 1ST down
1st & 10 at M-OH 25
(12:39 - 3rd) Coleman Owen 25 Yd pass from Parker Navarro (Gianni Spetic Kick)
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100%Cat
12/13/2024 4:26 PM
CatsUp wrote:expand_more
While at the game, it was easy to see Matt Salopek was having a rough day. Running one way and having the play go the other, come flying in to make a tackle only to face a trap block, etc. Complaining to the refs nonstop. Until—finally—capitulation on Tyus’ run when he threw up his hands in defeat.

I thought then: what a brilliant gameplan. Not only did Brian Smith take Salopek completely out of the game, but he also took All-American Raidon Strader out of the game by targeting Hendricks, Tyus, and Williams in the passing game, while Strader covered Owen.

But when I watched the ESPN broadcast the other day, it became apparent it was even more brilliant on Smith’s part, almost devious.

They spotlighted Salopek in the second half and noted he wrote a master’s degree dissertation on predicting play trees based on formations and personnel. And he used film of the Ohio Bobcats for the project! My guess is we knew that, and ran different play packages based off of personnel than we had all season. And it absolutely confused them.

Salopek finished with one solo tackle when the first time we played he had 7 solos and an INT.

I think it will go down as the best called game in Ohio history, not just the best played.
I appreciate this excellent analysis. I will have to watch a replay of the game and look for these things. Sitting in the first row at Ford Field, it was really hard see anything this granular. I would rather have been higher in the stands where I could have had a better view of the entire field. I did notice, of course, that the ball was being thrown more to other receivers than Owen, though Owen still had more total yards, on fewer catches than Hendricks.
In all my years of going to football games I have never seen a player talking (complaining) to an official as much as Salopek. This wasn’t a play or two. This behavior was over the top and almost continuous. At first I was mad because I was afraid he was going to influence them. Then as the game wore on, and as it became apparent we were going to continue to work Miami over, it started to become amusing.
I'm not sure who else noticed it, but it was after Navarro's 2nd rushing TD (I think, 85% sure), Salopek was sort of kneeling looking like he was in disbelief for several seconds, and an OU player trotted by him and just lightly tapped him on the top of his helmet with his hand. Salopek came unglued. It was pretty hilarious.
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Diamond Cat
12/13/2024 8:05 PM
CatsUp....100%. I have not witnessed a player cry that much let alone a player of his talent. Whhhhaaaaa!

Mason Williams tapped him on the helmet BTW. Sat behind Mason and his parents during the MACC against Toledo. As I recall, both parents were Toledo Grads. Good people. He was pumped to get to Athens.
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AlumDadDad
12/13/2024 8:38 PM
Excellent analysis. I'll add one observation: Tyus laid several really good hits on him in a blocking role. Trey is a beast...Salopek is probably not used to a running back doing that.
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Pete Chouteau
12/13/2024 8:49 PM
Miami's defensive adjustments didn't happen until halftime and they were exploited immediately.

Ohio's defense adjusted after Miami's first drive and didn't need to again.

Which coaching staff already had a foot out the door?
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